Southern Indiana Business March-April 2020 | Page 9

we competed for. When I drive by some of
these buildings at River Ridge or the Ports
of Indiana and I see all of these cars in the
parking lots, it makes me feel good. Maybe
we did our jobs correctly, and these folks
have opportunities to improve their lives.
That’s what I love about my job.
We also increase the tax base here. For
every project that we bring in or every
company we’re able to expand, we’re able
to retain that tax base and those jobs. If
we’re able to grow companies, that’s even
better. In theory, we’re reducing the burden
of government, but increasing the tax base.
Increasing the county average wage is
another big one for me. I talk a lot about
wages. I look at our average wages in
Clark, in Floyd counties in the last two or
three decades, and it’s steadily increased.
I actually ran some numbers [recently].
We announced 11 projects last year, and
our average wage was $25.96. The county
average wage for Clark is $19.47, and
Floyd’s is $20.03. We were able to attract
those jobs that pay above the county
average.
2
What role does the economic
/ business environment of
a community play in shaping its
culture?
It’s critical. If you’re a community that
has no growth and you’re sort of stagnant,
you’re slowly dying on the vine. You want
your community to be prosperous. You
want there to be opportunities for folks to
engage in the community. You want a high
quality of life and a high quality of place,
and those things don’t exist in communities
where your unemployment rate is high and
where there are no opportunities to grow as
citizens.
I think the most successful communities
are the ones who invest in their future. If
you’re not having progress, then you’re
having regress. That’s a problem.
3
What’s unique about
Southern Indiana that makes
it such a hotbed for growth?
What’s interesting here is that we are
known as being part of a city in a state
that we’re not a part of. From a marketing
standpoint, some folks would look at that
as being very challenging. I think it’s the
greatest spot to be in. We have instant
access to all of the downtown amenities
of an urban center like Louisville. But
when you’re in Southern Indiana, in many
ways, it’s different. I always joke and say
we’re 20% of the region but 80% of the
opportunity.
When folks look at the Louisville
market and they want to either locate
here or expand here, we have lots of land
availability. We have an excellent tax
climate and cost climate for business, all
within easy access of that downtown core.
Think about it — downtown Clarksville
is 90 seconds from downtown Louisville.
That’s pretty amazing, and there’s not many
places that have that.
I will also say that the ability to go from
urban to suburban here is pretty amazing.
You can get from one to the other pretty
easily, quickly and cost-effectively. We’ve
had consultants in from other areas to look
at our community, and that’s one thing they
note. From our offices, you don’t have to
drive very far to see cows, but you can see
downtown Louisville from here, too. If
you live in downtown Louisville, within 20
minutes, you can be on an active farm or
winery and really have a day in the country,
and get right back home without being gone
all day.
We also have what we call the “four Rs”
— rail, runway, river and roads. Not many
communities have all of those things. We
have all of those here within easy access of
each other. We’re at the center of a spider
web of interstates that help get people
and products in and out fairly quickly and
easily. We also have access to the river,
with two very active ports. We have our
airports, and also the railroads. That’s a big
advantage. For a lot of businesses, that’s
one of those boxes you want to check.
4
What sort of trends can we
expect to see in the economy
of Southern Indiana as the region
continues to expand?
We’ve seen a bump in pharmaceutical
companies that have been looking
at our area. We’ve had some project
announcements around that, and I think
that will continue to grow. Something that
is sort of relatively new to us is a recently
announced CBD extraction project. I think
that business is going gangbuster. It’ll be
interesting to see what opportunities we will
have as we develop products, particularly
food products, that utilize hemp oil.
River Ridge just opened up their gateway
area. That’ll open it up for headquarters’
locations and research-and-development
facilities. Of course, we still make things
here, so I don’t see our manufacturing
declining. I think we’ll continue to see
growth in that, which a lot of areas can’t
claim. Indiana is still a manufacturing state,
and Southern Indiana is no exception.
I used to joke and say that we make
everything from biscuits to barges. Our
economy is so diverse. In the recession, that
played well to us. We survived, because we
had large diversification. That’s one thing
we recognized as an organization. If we
don’t have all of our eggs in one basket, we
have the ability to weather the storm of a
recession.
We actually implemented this in our
strategic plan. Now, since we can’t say
biscuits anymore because General Mills
is gone, and we can’t say barges anymore
since Jeffboat is gone, we say bourbon and
bolts. We have Posco at the port, then we
have Sazerac that used the General Mills
facility in New Albany.
5
In addition to businesses,
what other components and
amenities are vital in making a
community “click”?
One thing is you have to go to the
customer. The customer isn’t always going
to come to you. I spend a lot of time on the
road, both domestically and internationally,
telling our story. A lot of folks, when you
say Southern Indiana, they ask, ‘Where is
that?’ I tell them we’re part of the Louisville
market, and they might know that. Then, I’ll
ask if they’ve ever heard of the Kentucky
Derby. They may not know that. Then, it’ll
come to them, and they’ll say, ‘Kentucky
Fried Chicken?’ So we can start with that.
Always think of us as being ‘Horton
Hears a Who.’ We’re always that dust speck
in the field of clover trying to get the world
to notice where we are and who we are.
Unfortunately, not everybody is going to
come to us. We have to hit the road and
attract that business.
March / April 2020
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